Thursday, October 30, 2008

In a trail of Chris(es), comes an interesting idea from the Islanders. I (Chris #1) direct you through Chris over at Icethethics to Chris over NYI Point Blank. He (Chris #3) reported today that the Isles are looking into using their new throwback third jerseys as their primary jerseys starting next season or, possibly, in 2010-11. What a great idea! Only thing that could make such an idea even better would be if the switch were to coincide with an important date for the franchise ... like, say, a 40th anniversary!

Monday, October 27, 2008

With the fantastic announcement that Buffalo will be hosting the 2011 World Junior Championship, I noticed another interesting detail.

The real deal Sabres logo being used on the backdrop for the announcement is quite telling if you ask me.

Let's look at the facts. The Sabres are introducing a retro-style third jersey this year, bringing back their original and one true logo. When the players were introduced at the home opener, they all stormed out of those vintage crest-emblazoned curtains. We're a month into the season and the vintage logo still looks tremendous at center ice. And now the logo shows up on the backdrop for a major announcement in the hockey community.

Are the Sabres in the first stages of a rebranding? Are they taking steps towards salting the slug? Who knows. But a few big signs seem to be pointing to "yes."

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

This blog post comes from Chris Botta, former Media Relations Vice President of the New York Islanders who worked for the team when they launched the infamous "Fisherman" logo and jersey. You know it's bad when players and management knew with confidence they screwed up even before the jersey was officially released.

The idea of a new Islanders logo was immediately lost with the thought, “Hey, we should change the logo”! It could have been the coolest, most dynamic logo in the history of sports, and it still would have been a preposterous notion. And that’s without even getting into the nauseating wave at the bottom of the jerseys. Darius Kasparaitis and Travis Green were two of the lucky ones around to model it. When Darius saw the jersey, his reaction went something like this: